The Hero's Journey: Recent Episodes
Center For Food Safety
Meet our newest project: The Hero’s Journey 🎙 – a clap back at the systems we’re fighting with stories of HOPE. On this podcast, we talk with changemakers about their origins, trials, tribulations, fears, mentors and more. From world-renowned hero, Vandana Shiva, to nature-based meditation teacher Mark Coleman, our conversations highlight the many paths to creating a brighter future for all earthlings.
SUBSCRIBE for the inspiring stories of folks who have made an impact across this landscape!
“If you’re going to fight for anything, you should fight for freedom of speech.”
Today on the pod, we have the inimitable journalist Carey Gillam. Carey shares her Kansan origins, what drew her to journalism in the first place, her career trajectory from national correspondent to uncovering Monsanto’s wrongdoings, how she’s stayed resilient in the face of corporate pushback, the value of non-profit journalism, dissecting the concept of “truth”, the need for nuanced thinking, and more. In this candid conversation, Ashley and Carey get real about their individual experiences as women in the media facing hostile actors. Thought-provoking and powerful, we end our second season with the urgent call for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Resources
The Twitter Files
The New Lede
The Guardian
The Intercept
Investigate Midwest
ProPublica
THE MONSANTO PAPERS: Deadly Secrets, Corporate Corruption, and One Man's Search for Justice
WHITEWASH: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science
Plugs
Carey’s Website and Twitter
The New Lede Twitter and Instagram
All environmental entrepreneurs listen up! Today we had the pleasure of speaking with the CEO and Founder of Symbrosia, Alexia Akbay. Alexia is a member of the Forbes 30 under 30 2022 class in Social Impact and Symbrosia is a CleanTech startup reducing livestock methane emissions with seaweed. We discuss Alexia’s background, how her seaweed product works and where it originated from, what she’s learned working directly with producers and large consumer facing brands, where her company is headed and how to navigate competition, what it is like being a woman in business and STEM, her mentors, and more. If you have an idea or solution but aren’t sure how to execute it, this is a great episode to push you to keep innovating. The world needs your magic! Resources:Symbrosia Website Neutral FoodsPlugs:Symbrosia Instagram
If Elon Musk can put a gas station in a garage, why can’t you put a landfill in your kitchen? Joining us today is Matt Bertilli, CEO of eco-friendly company Lomi Home Composter- the first countertop composting appliance on the market. Does that sound too good to be true? Ashley certainly agrees, but she bought Lomi anyways and now has the greenest lawn in the neighborhood, sans chemicals. In this episode, Matt challenges our notions about the power of capitalism and impact entrepreneurship to effect change. Ashley and Matt discuss all things waste streams and management, the impressive climate impact of composting, why we should focus on progress over perfection, solving social problems with the market, the complexities of venture capital, the challenges of staying on mission, the importance of intellectual honesty, and more.
Resources:
Epic Gardening
Plugs
Lomi Website
Lomi Instagram
Lomi Tiktok
Pela Case Website
When you prioritize diversity over specialization, amazing transformations can take place. Paula Daniels, our guest today has activated this theory of change throughout her career and spearheaded institutional change on local and national scales. Currently, Paula is the Co-founder, Chief of What’s Next, and Founding Chair of the Center for Good Food Purchasing. In this episode, we discuss Paula’s origins, how indigenous ingenuity motivated her towards food policy, her experience with civil service, the ins and outs of a food policy council, the power of procurement, Paula’s cat, turtle, and dolphin theory, and so much more.
Resources:
Center for Good Food Purchasing
How Cities Can Build Food System Resilience
Plugs:
Paula’s Podcast
Center for Good Food Purchasing Twitter
Jailing a Nation
True Cost Accounting for Food: Balancing the Scale
True Cost of Food: School Meals Case Study
Investing in a Good Food Future
What Hurricanes Warn Us About the Future of Food
Designing a Renewable Food System
Within the non-profit industrial complex, communities of color are chronically underfunded. This is a problem today’s guest, Iara Peng is working to solve. Iara is the founder and CEO of JustFund, an online portal democratizing philanthropy by connecting grantmakers directly to organizations. In this fascinating episode, we learn about Iara’s personal relationship with concepts of democracy, why she drove the original Declaration of Independence from Vermont to New York, why philanthropy is inherently exclusionary, her visionary solution to making grantmaking more accessible, and more. Ever wondered what Donor Advised Funds are or why philanthropy lacks accountability? This episode is rich with information the average person might not know about the philanthropic world and how we can build a more equitable system.
Resources:
Why Freedom Matters: Celebrating the Declaration of Independence in Two Centuries of Prose, Poetry and Song
JustFund Website
Plugs:
JustFund Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn
Iara Peng LinkedIn
How do we overcome the personal and industrial inertia that keeps our society stagnant? The answer according to today’s guest, Senator Chris Lee, is with wholesale change. Chris Lee is a State Senator in Hawaii and was the youngest member ever elected to the Hawaii State Legislature. He has authored laws making Hawaii the first state to commit to 100% renewable energy and a carbon negative economy by 2045. In this episode, Ashley and Chris discuss how he became a legislator in the first place, what it takes to get elected, the health scare that changed the trajectory of his political career, his policy wins, why your vote actually does matter, how everyone can participate in the democratic process, and more. For anyone curious about what it’s really like to run for office and coalition build for real change, this episode is jam packed with helpful insights and practical advice.
Resources:
Schoolhouse Rock - I'm Just a Bill
Plugs:
Senator Lee’s Twitter and Instagram
On today’s podcast we have San Diego’s clean energy godmother Nicole Capretz. Nicole is an environmental attorney, the founder and CEO of the Climate Action Campaign, and the primary author of San Diego’s 100% clean energy action plan. Nicole has been doing climate work and activism before people knew or cared about climate change. If you or someone you know is interested in politics, civil service, or running for office, this episode is rich with anecdotal advice and wisdom. Nicole shares her personal journey, the lessons she’s learned along the way, how to stay resilient when facing powerful actors, and strategies for fighting cynicism.
Resources:
San Diego Climate Action Plan
Plugs:
Climate Action Campaign
Campaign Twitter
Campaign Instagram
Campaign Facebook
We all want to eat food, but we don’t necessarily have the wherewithal to learn where and from whom our food came. That is where good storytelling comes in. Today, our guest is the Emmy and James Beard Award Winning Sophia Roe. Sophia is a chef, writer, and the founder of Apartment Miso. In this episode we go deep into Sophia’s background and how that informs her advocacy today, her relationship with food, and her interest in supply chains. In this candid episode, Sophia opens up about why activism requires you to be in a consistent relationship with sorrow, the pressure of actively needing to care about everything, and advice for the younger generations about how to stay motivated and hopeful.
Plugs:
Website
Counter Space
Apartment Miso
The less news coverage you have, the less accountability. In a society where local news outlets are collapsing, news is becoming more and more consolidated, news mistrust is at an all time high, and outlets are dependent on corporate funding, choosing to be an independent investigative journalist is an act of serious heroism. Today, we have Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder and editor-in-chief of Food Fix, the go-to source for food policy news and analysis. Helena is an award winning reporter who previously led food coverage at Politico. In this episode, Helena and Ashley dive deep into the infant formula debacle and its relationship to the larger food conversation, why food policy deserves its own beat, why Helena classifies herself as an “accidental journalist”, why media coverage in politics matters, what the investigative process looks like, how we maintain connection with people we deeply disagree with, and more.
Resources:
Politico Climate Change Series
The Great Nutrient Collapse
‘Lessons have not been learned’: FDA knew of positive test months before latest infant formula recall
How Washington keeps America sick and fat
Diet-Related Diseases Pose a Major Risk for Covid-19. But the U.S. Overlooks Them.
Plugs:
Food Fix
Twitter: @hbottemiller @foodfixco
What is the Hero’s Journey? Why has everyone heard of it? Why is it the title of this podcast? Who is Joseph Campbell? Today we have the Executive Director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, John Bucher to spill all the tea. In this thoughtful conversation, Julia and John talk about everything from his personal relationship with the Hero’s Journey, our collective Hero’s Journey, Joseph Campbell’s journey and how his teachings have impacted the world, the internal and external threads we need to weave, the devaluation of mystery, what to do when one feels lost or off-track, and so much more. This episode is rich with information, inspiration, and motivation that should move us all forward on our Hero’s Journey.
Resources:
The Heroine’s Journey
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
Plugs:
Joseph Campbell Website
Instagram: josephcampbellfoundation
Twitter: @jcf_org
What happens when 21 Gen Z leaders step up to demand the US government take action on climate? How has Juliana v. United States transformed the climate conversation in the US? Let’s find out together!
In this special episode of The Hero's Journey, we hosted a live conversation with youth plaintiffs and a lawyer from the landmark climate case Juliana v. United States. In this case, 21 youth plaintiffs sued the U.S. federal government for violating their right to a safe climate. Plaintiffs claimed the government’s actions and inactions regarding climate change violated their fundamental constitutional rights to freedom from deprivation of life, liberty, and property.
Our live podcast guests feature:
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Isaac V, a 20 yr old youth plaintiff from Oregon
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Levi D, a 15 yr old youth plaintiff from Florida
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Andrea Rodgers, one of the attorneys on the case, Our Children's Trust
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Our host, Ashley Lukens, Regional Development Director for Center for Food Safety
"Whatever it is you're promoting, practice what you preach," -advice from today's guest, Miyoko Schinner. Founder of Miyoko’s Creamery, Miyoko is an epicurean activist working to transform dairy products through its evolution away from animal milk to plant milk, and has dedicated her life to inspiring others to adopt a compassion lifestyle through food and awareness of the animals with whom we share this planet. In this episode, we discuss Miyoko's vegan journey, how she grew her business, the value of following your intuition, the role of business in social change, the challenge of cultivating an authentic mission, Miyoko's soul-building practices, her non-profit movement building work, the importance of reaching people's hearts, and so much more.
When we tend to our inner gardens, we are better able to transform the outer world. Inner work is something our last guest of the season, Center for Food Safety Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell believes we must prioritize in order to be effective activists.
This episode covers a wide scope of topics. Andrew and Ashley discuss his heroic journey from pianist to lawyer, the impact of his mentors, his path to the Supreme Court, the need to transition environmental law to criminal law, how a war against nature will always be a war against ourselves, and what keeps him hopeful. This episode also goes deep, covering the intrinsic value of music, why activists must fall in love, what it means to shift the collective consciousness, why we need to view ourselves as creators instead of consumers, and so much more.
For today’s show, Ashley is delighted to be joined by the Center for Food Safety’s Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell to have a fascinating conversation with another world-renowned eco warrior, Vandana Shiva.
Vandana Shiva is a quantum physicist, ecologist, activist, teacher, author and more. In this episode, Vandana and Andrew go deep into how the patenting of life and the antiglobalization movement led to their activist paths converging. With Ashley’s probing, Vandana and Andrew discuss the power of the WTO protests in Seattle and Cancún and what organizing in this moment requires, breakdown the dangers of philanthrocapitalism, why the human relationship to earth must be radically transformed, the need to embrace biodiverse solutions, what it means to be attacked by corporations, and why their activism isn’t about success or convincing others.
We are the earth, and the earth moves through today’s guest by singing songs to empower us all to embrace our own earth warrior. Hila the Killa is an eco-rapper, educator, and comedian hailing from New York City. Growing up in the city, Hila was not regularly exposed to nature, but when she was, she found an all-consuming adoration for it. In this episode, Hila, Ashley, and Julia discuss how burning man influenced Hila’s art, how her work fosters a sense of joy and empowerment, the role of art in activism, the difference between organizing and informing, where intergenerational outreach fits into her mission, why viewing nature as bizarre and absurd should help humans foster self-acceptance, how categorizing can limit human possibility, where Hila accesses her gratitude, and more.
Hila Perry aka "Hila the Killa" is an environmental educator and entertainer. She raps as Planet Earth about ecological topics such as; tree canopies, vegetables, compost, mushrooms, water, plastic, and environmental justice amongst other eco-topics. Hila has worked with Greenpeace, the Smithsonian, Mission Green, Sierra Club, House of Yes, Meow Wolf, and more! Hila is committed to bringing joy, music, and comedy to the environmental education space with her songs and performances. You can find her on Instagram | TikTok | Youtube | Spotify
Baldemar Velasquez was born and raised as a migrant farm worker from South Texas. In 1967, at the age of twenty, Velasquez along with his father and a small group of farmworkers, tired of the mistreatment formed the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. (FLOC). In 1978 he started an eight year strike and boycott of the Campbell Soup Company that culminated in the first multi-party contracts in labor history between farmworkers, farmers and numerous industrial produce corporations.
Sharon Lerner is an investigative journalist at ProPublica and worked at The Intercept for 7 years prior. In this episode, Ashley and Sharon discuss the role of investigative journalism and storytelling in social change, Sharon’s personal journey into journalism, her work investigating the AIDs epidemic and COVID pandemic, as well as the EPA.. Sharon, a learner and journalist at heart that fact checks herself during the conversation, shares why it is important to follow what interests you, how she navigates a hostile political landscape, and the critical ingredients to successful journalism.
Mark Coleman is an insight meditation teacher who has been teaching meditation retreats worldwide since 1997. Mark is passionate about integrating meditation and nature and regularly leads wilderness retreats through his organization, Awake in the Wild, where he also offers nature-based meditation teacher trainings. Mark is also the co-founder of the Mindfulness Training Institute, where he co-leads yearlong mindfulness teacher trainings in Europe and US. Mark is the author of three books, Awake in the Wild, Make Peace With Your Mind, and From Suffering to Peace. He lives in Sausalito, in Marin County, CA and likes nothing more than to spend his time hiking, biking and kayaking outdoors.
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, in the department she chaired from 1988-2003 and from which she retired in September 2017. She is also Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She holds honorary degrees from Transylvania University in Kentucky and the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York.
She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. Previous faculty positions were at Brandeis University and the UCSF School of Medicine. From 1986-88, she was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and editor of the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. Her research and writing examine scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice and its consequences, emphasizing the role of food industry marketing.
She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of fourteen books, several of them prize-winning, most notably Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2002); Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety (2003); What to Eat (2006); Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics, with Dr. Malden Nesheim (2012); Eat, Drink Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics (2013); and Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning) in 2015. She also has written two books about pet food, Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine (2008) and Feed Your Pet Right in 2010 (also with Dr. Nesheim). She published Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat, in 2018. Her most recent book, with Kerry Trueman, Let's Ask Marion: What You Need to Know about the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health, was published in September 2020. Her forthcoming book with University of California Press is a memoir to be published in 2022.
Anna Lappé is a bestselling author, advocate for sustainability and justice along the food chain, and funder for food systems transformation. Since 2016, she has developed and led the Food Sovereignty Fund of the Panta Rhea Foundation. She is also the founder and strategic advisor to Real Food Media, which works with food movement partners around the world to develop powerful media and communications strategy. A national bestselling author, Anna has authored or co-authored three books and is the contributing author to fourteen more, including Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It. She regularly speaks with audiences around the country and her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among other outlets. Along with her mother, Frances Moore Lappé, Anna also co-founded the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund, supporting grassroots changemakers around the world. A James Beard Foundation award recipient, Anna is lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two daughters.
Have you ever thought about animals as elders? What about the land as a teacher? Today’s powerful episode of “The Hero’s Journey” features author and professor Liz Carlisle and advocate Latrice Tatsey to discuss the relationship between regenerative agriculture and indigenous knowledge.
Liz Carlisle is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at UC Santa Barbara, where she teaches courses on food and farming. She has written three books about regenerative farming and agroecology: Lentil Underground (2015), Grain by Grain (2019, with co-author Bob Quinn), and most recently, Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming (2022). She holds a Ph.D. in Geography, from UC Berkeley, and a B.A. in Folklore and Mythology, from Harvard University. Prior to her career as a writer and academic, she spent several years touring rural America as a country singer.
Latrice Tatsey is an ecologist and advocate for tribally-directed bison restoration who remains active in her family’s cattle ranching operation at Blackfeet Nation in northwest Montana. Her research focuses on organic matter and carbon in soil, and specifically, the benefits to soil from the reintroduction of bison (iin-ni) to their traditional grazing landscapes on the Blackfeet Reservation. Latrice is currently completing her master’s degree in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University and she serves as a research fellow with the Piikani Lodge Health Institute and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
What happens when college campuses prioritize lawns over the health of their students? What happens when your everyday life forces you into activism? On this week’s episode of The Hero’s Journey™ Podcast, we speak with Mackenzie Feldman, founder of Re:wild Your Campus (formerly Herbicide-Free Campus).
Future guests of this podcast include Vandana Shiva, Anna Lappe, Marion Nestle, and more.
CFS’ Legal Director, George Kimbrell, joined The Hero Journey’s podcast to share his story into law, his greatest legal battles, the importance of work-life balance, and the bits and pieces of wisdom he’s gained along the way. Listen to The Hero’s Journey podcast on Apple, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Stitcher and watch on Youtube. #herosjourneypodcast
Not all heroes wear shoes. That is the case with our first guest Charlie Tebbutt, a pioneering environmental lawyer who has spent decades suing corporations across over half of the country, defending citizens directly impacted by industrial pollution. Charlie shares his journey from activist to litigator and the value of standing up and standing out. In conversation with our host, Ashley Lukens, this episode highlights law as an avenue for social change, resilience in the face of corrupt systems, the link between human rights and environmental rights, and how an action as simple as taking a picture can support legal activism.
Timestamps:
How Charlie uses his Liberal Arts education to think critically and holistically until today 4:30
How his work challenges the law to where be what it should be 6:00
Charlie’s long and winding journey into law 7:30
A lawyer’s true role in society as problem solvers 11:30
How he landed his first job at Atlantic States Legal Foundation 12:29
Federal government as polluter and protector 25:58
What Charlie does as a Public Interest Lawyer 27:00
What are CAFOs? An environmental lawyer’s perspective 27:50
How CAFOs pollute groundwater [CLIP] 33:38
His top advice to clients, and the everyday person 37:25
Best advice Charlie has received on his activist journey 40:05
How do we take names and kick ass? 41:00
Resources:
Vatican Encyclical Letter by Pope Francis - On Care for our Common Home
https://www.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si_en.pdf
Love Canal
https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy.html
Times Beach Missouri
https://www.epa.gov/mo/town-flood-and-superfund-looking-back-times-beach-disaster-nearly-40-years-later
Dark Waters (Movie)
https://www.focusfeatures.com/dark-waters
Erin Brockovich
https://www.brockovich.com/
Summary of the Clean Air Act
https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-air-act
Summary of the Clean Water Act
https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
https://www.epa.gov/rcra
Law Offices of Charlie Tebbutt
http://charlietebbutt.com/
Meet our newest project: The Hero’s Journey 🎙 – a clap back at the systems we’re fighting with stories of HOPE. On this podcast, we talk with changemakers about their origins, trials, tribulations, fears, mentors and more. From world-renowned hero, Vandana Shiva, to nature-based meditation teacher Mark Coleman, our conversations highlight the many paths to creating a brighter future for all earthlings.
SUBSCRIBE for the inspiring stories of folks who have made an impact across this landscape!